President Obama Warms Up His 2012 Money Machine

President Barack Obama’s re-election fundraising effort kicks off — unofficially — on Wednesday when Democratic donors pour into Washington for a two-day meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s national advisory board, featuring appearances by the president, his chief of staff, his 2008 campaign manager and the man who will head his 2012 re-election campaign.

Democrats familiar with the event at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington’s toney Woodley Park neighborhood stress it is not an official re-election effort. That would mean the president would have to jump through a series of legal hoops, including fund-raising reporting requirements. The speeches will be sufficiently broad and generic to not count as election stumping. There will be no overt requests for cash.